This invention relates to luggage, specifically so-called softsided luggage generally constructed of cloth panels stitched together to form a parallelopiped shaped cloth bag suspended on an interior frame. The frame provides general structural stability to the otherwise flaccid cloth bag, and also provides a structural member to which can be attached a handle for carrying and wheels for easy transportation.
Typically a soft luggage case of the type described above has a bottom board made of honeycomb extruded thermoplastic or more preferably a rectangular sheet of plywood. This plywood member is covered with cloth or vinyl compatible with the rest of the case and riveted in the bottom of the bag-like cloth construction. The bottom board may also bear two or four wheels for transporting the case. Also typically, the upper surface bottom board carries a hoop-shaped frame member. This frame member is fastened to the top surface of the plywood bottom board inside the luggage case with a handle or other attachements riveted through the frame member, through the body of the case, into the outside of the case construction. This frame member may be steel, metal or plastic and consequently is usually also covered with cloth material since the frame member may be rough or presumed to have sharp surfaces which would be undesirable to the user placing clothing or other personal items in contact with the frame. The attachment areas where the frame member and the bottom board come together present further aesthetic and functional problems. The end surfaces tend to be rough and thus require further covering to prevent contact of these rough edge surfaces with the personal effects to be transported in a luggage case.
A new type of luggage has been made popular by Samsonite Corporation, Assignee of the subject invention. This case, popularized under the term "Ultralite" luggage, includes outside accessible pouch-type pockets on the small rectangular end panels of the luggage case. The outside access to these pouch-like pockets is important for convenience of the user. Thus the end pockets must be placed outside the frame. This results in the end pockets being subject to drooping and being unsupported by the bottom board.